This ‘Simpsons’ Episode Was a Turning Level for the Present in Extra Methods Than One

This 12 months, one of many all-time finest The Simpsons episodes turns 30: 1995’s “Lisa’s Wedding.” It’s the primary episode of the sequence set sooner or later and, to my thoughts, the best of the lot, however right here’s the place issues get fascinating. The long run in “Lisa’s Marriage ceremony” is 15 years from that date, making it 2010, and now, right here in 2025, it has been 15 years since then. Which implies it is an episode from the previous, one which exhibits a future that’s now up to now. D’OH! And it proves to be a turning level within the sequence as a complete.

What Is “Lisa’s Marriage ceremony” About?

“Lisa’s Marriage ceremony” begins with the household visiting a Renaissance truthful, the place Lisa (Yeardley Smith) comes throughout a fortune-teller. Skeptical at first, Lisa is gained over by the fortune-teller’s capacity to call all the Simpsons household and what they’re doing in the intervening time (“Homer is heckling the puppet present” sealed the deal), and listens as she hears the story of her first real love.

The story jumps forward to the 12 months 2010, when 23-year-old Lisa meets British scholar Hugh Parkfield (Mandy Patinkin). The 2 have quite a bit in frequent – vegetarianism, the magic of Jim Carrey, and the Rolling Stones (“Not for his or her music however for his or her tireless efforts to protect historic buildings”) – and Hugh invitations Lisa to fulfill his mother and father again in England. He then asks her to marry him, and she or he accepts. Now it is off to fulfill her mother and father… and cue the hyperventilation.

We Get A Shocking Have a look at Springfield’s Future

“Lisa’s Marriage ceremony” is the primary time we see what is going to grow to be of our favourite Springfield residents. Bart (Nancy Cartwright) is a twice-divorced 25-year-old constructing demolition knowledgeable; Maggie is a young person who by no means shuts up (however by no means talks within the episode, all the time being minimize off). Marge (Julie Kavner) remains to be a housewife, and Homer (Dan Castellaneta) is… nonetheless in Sector 7G. However Milhouse (Pamela Hayden) is his supervisor, in order that’s a factor, and Mayor Quimby (Castellaneta) drives a cab below the title Mohammed Jafar, working for Otto (Harry Shearer). Martin Prince (Russi Taylor), presumed lifeless, lives underground à la Phantom of the Opera, Mister Burns (Shearer) is cryogenically frozen till a treatment is discovered for seventeen stab wounds within the again (however they’re as much as fifteen!). The Simpsons’ dwelling at 742 Evergreen Terrace has had Homer-renovations (“Bear in mind: If the constructing inspector comes by, it is not a room, it is a window field”).

This primary glimpse into the way forward for Springfield’s residents is a crucial one within the sequence’ historical past. There are arcs which can be comical for certain, however others make an odd diploma of sense. It is not shocking that Homer hasn’t left Sector 7G, neither is it shocking that Bart hasn’t amounted to a lot. It is a narrative that carries ahead in most of Bart’s future arcs, a pure consequence of his actions within the current. The allusion to a romance between Lisa and Milhouse is one other arc that has typically been revisited, together with a zombie-Milhouse that turns into much more fascinating to Lisa in “Days of Future Future.”

“Lisa’s Marriage ceremony” Showcases What We Love About The Simpsons

Picture by way of Fox

Along with catching up with Springfield, “Lisa’s Marriage ceremony” has enjoyable with what the longer term will deliver, one thing that each future-set episode takes a crack at. Some are ridiculous: Huge Ben is now a digital clock flashing 12:00, and “wacky outdated designs” for airplanes have been re-evaluated (bi-plane? nah – hex-plane). Largely, although, the episode is infamous for the number of predictions that got here to move inside it, arguably the purpose The Simpsons turned from humorous animated sitcom to Nostradamus incarnate. The episode predicted smartwatches (technically second, after Dick Tracy in 1931), FaceTime, the still-touring Rolling Stones, distant (and commercialized) schooling, digital darts, and famed London landmark The Shard. Additionally, Fox is popping right into a hardcore intercourse channel so slowly that nobody notices (The Actual Full Monty is only the start…).

It additionally predicted a key second to come back within the sequence itself: Lisa’s vegetarianism, which might kick off with Paul McCartney‘s appearance in Season 7’s “Lisa the Vegetarian.” It did, nonetheless, drop the ball on the subject of Maude Flanders (Maggie Roswell).The success of the future-set “Lisa’s Marriage ceremony” prompted The Simpsons to return to the longer term numerous occasions since. The outcomes have been diversified, from the lows of “When Nelson Met Lisa” to the highs of “Holidays of Future Handed.” One of many weaker entries, the second future-set episode “Bart to the Future,” would acquire notoriety for predicting the presidency of 1 Donald Trump. One final level: flashback and flash-forward episodes of The Simpsons are problematic for some, individuals who have points with continuity. In The Simpsons, of all issues. To you, I attain again to the previous for this gem: “Eat my shorts.”

The Simpsons is out there to stream on Hulu within the U.S.